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Day 2: Portorož - Grado - Venice Lido - Chioggia - San Gimignano - Florence - Lucca

Major places to see:
  • Slovenia
    Portorož
    A well known tourst destination on the Slovenian coast, one of the closest sites on the shore to most of the Central Europe. There are numerous hoels and casinos in the town. A century old Hotel Palace has been renewed in 2009 and by its basic architecture it shows the spirit of fin de ciecle and early twentieth century. We will see similar architecture (in much greater quantity) in Cannes, France and even in Montreux, Switzerland. Airport Portorož is located in the middle of very old salines (saltpans). The salines are now a nature park featuring some rare birdlife and plants, but a small production of salt is being reestablished. The saline mud is used for its therapeutic effects in a number of local wellness centers. Portorož is the coastal city that we see on the right just after takeoff from the airport. On the peninsula between salines and Portorož, there is a forma viva, an open place with exposition of sculptures made in many years by various visiting sculpturers. Jast after the peninsula is the Marina of Portorož, one of the oldest turist marinas in the Adriatic. From the Marina to Piran there are beaches of various hotels. A notable old building on the coast is a salt warehouse that used to store salt produced in the salines. Further on to the west is Bernanrdin, a hotel complex build around a very old church that can be seen in the middle of new buildings.
    Piran
    Piran is a medievial city formed on the peninsula with origin as a Roman fortress. The town resembles a large open-air museum, with medieval architecture and a rich cultural heritage. Narrow streets and compact houses give the town its special charm. Piran is the administrative centre of the local area and one of Slovenia's major tourist attractions. It is said that the city during its growth rebuilt its walls seven times. The last (outermost) city wall is seen on the hill east from the city as a very impressive defensive construction. City has a rich cutural history. Piran was for most of the history part of the Venetian Republic. Piran is the birthplace of the 18th century composer Giuseppe Tartini. Tartini was known all around Europe as the great violin virtuoso. From the air we can see the main town square with an elliptic shape hosting the Tartini monument.
    Izola, Koper
    Isola and Koper are the two other slovenian coastal cities. Both are cities with an old medievial core and growing suburbs. We will see them on our right. Isola can be recognized by a large marina (one of the largest marinas in the Adriatic) and Koper can be recognized by its Port. Port of Koper is now one of the most important Ports in northern Adraitic and a lot of logistic routes take advantage of its proximity to the Central European industrial basin. A special sight is (usualy) a huge number of parked (new) cars in the port area as Koper is the entry point for most cars produced in Asia on their way to European markets. Slovenian Italian border is located few kilometers north of Koper on the peninsula called Debeli rtič.
  • Italy
    Trieste
    We will see the city of Trieste of our right as the city at the far end of the Gulf of Trieste. Trieste was an important Austro hungarian port throughout the history. It came under Italy only after the WWI. The city population was always italian but just miles out of the city there is a strong sovenian minority. The Port of Trieste is clearly visible from the air.
    Grado
    The first town we will reach after crossing the 10 NM stretch over the sea is a small fishing (now mostly touristic) town Grado. It is located on a patch of land that is almost an island connected to the mainland by only a road. North from the city you will see the large concrete runway of the Ronchi dei Legionari Airport. Within the city on the edge of the Patriarch's Square you can spot a large cathedral Basilica of Sant'Eufemia with an octagonal baptistery that date back to 5-6th century and a bell tower from 15th century. Just a few miles inland (NNE) from Grado is historically more important town Aquilea, an ancient Roman city where an imperial palace was constructed frequented by many Roman emperors. The town retained its historical importance for more than 1000 years as the seat of Patriarchiate of Aquilea. For its historical importance Aquilea and its archeological area are now an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
    Caorle
    The next town we will overfly is now a tourst place of Caorle. situated between estuaries of Livenza and Lemene. There are two other tourist resorts in the vicinity: Eraclea and Bibione. Caorle is also an ancient Roman city with historical importance in the Venetian republic. We can see the cathedral with its bell tower built in 11th century.
    Jesolo
    Lido di Jesolo is the tourist resort of Venice. This is 15km (10 mi) long beach where each hotel has its own private section of beach with tables, umbrellas and sun loungers. The view from the air is realy impressive (and colorful).
    Venice
    We will be flying few miles south of Venice across the small airport Lido di Venezia - San Nicolo on the island Giudecca protecting the Venetian Lagoon from the outer seas. On the right you will be able to see the Lagoon with the main island of Venice.
    Chioggia
    We will be flying on the outer edge of the Venetian Lagoon to the fishing town of Chioggia. It is a miniature version of Venice marking the southern end of the Lagoon. The town still depends on the fishing activities (most other Northern Adriatic ex fishing towns now live predominantly on the tourism). Overhead Chioggia we are now leaving the cosastline and head across the Apeninian Peninsula into Tuscany.
    Chioggia
    We will be flying on the outer edge of the Venetian Lagoon to the fishing town of Chioggia. It is a miniature version of Venice marking the southern end of the Lagoon. The town still depends on the fishing activities (most other Northern Adriatic ex fishing towns now live predominantly on the tourism). Overhead Chioggia we are now leaving the cosastline and head across the Apennine Peninsula into Tuscany.
    Ferrara, Ravenna, Bologna
    We will be headed to Florence leaving Ferrera on our right side, Ravenna on our left side and Bologna close on our right side. The whole land area overflown from Muggia to Bologna and all the way to Milano and Torino 400 km to the west is called the Po Valley, after the river Po which brings water from the western rim of Alps to the Adriatic. River Po has brought all the sediments in the Po Valley and in the Northern Adraitic. We are overflying the Po river shortly after we pass Muggia. Seen from above it is quite a modest river (now heavily regulated) and it is hard to believe it had brought all the soil of Northern Italy and it is the source of most of the nutrients for life in Nortehrn Adriatic (it used to be also the source of most of the marine polution in the area).
    Apennine Mountains
    Soon after we leave Bologna on our right we enter somewhat higher terrain. Apennine mountaing are older geological formation extendng all the way from the western rim of Alps to the south of the Italian peninsula. In general the Apennines are not very high (but the hiighest peak, Corno Grande is almost 3000m high; it is close to Pescara, much to the south of our route). The Apennines between Bologna and the Tyrenian coast are the characteristic feature of the green Tuscany landscape. Art historians frequently say Tuscany lanscape by its shape and special light conditions is largely responsible for many works of Renaissance painting.
    Florence
    Florence is one of the most important cities in Art History.
    Lucca
    Lucca is one of many historicaly important Tuscany towns. One of the nice features visible from the air are famous intact Renaissance-era city walls.
Use navigation buttons in upper left corner to get broader view. Click on a waypoint to get more
information. Click on the route to get route details. Double click on location to center and zoom-in.

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DayIdNameCountryLand Dist
NM		CSE
2LJPZPortoroz AirportSloveniaYES 
 9.7345
2VICKYVRP_IT_SIItaly - Slovenia 
 7.6290
2GRADOVRP_ITItaly 
 33.6249
2JESOLOVRP_LIPZ_ITItaly 
 11.0255
2LIPVVenezia / Lido - San Nicolo AirportItaly 
 6.0201
2PORTO MVRP_LIPZ_IT (Porto di Malamocco)Italy 
 16.0188
2CHIChioggia_NDB_IT (Chioggia_NDB_IT)Italy 
 88.8211
2PRTPeretola_VOR-DME_IT (Peretola_VOR-DME_IT)Italy 
 27.0272
2LIQLLucca / Tassignano AirportItalyYES 
 
Total net distance199.7NM
Approximate net flying time 2:30h:m